Walk into any tackle shop and you’ll find hundreds of rigs and hooks designed to help anglers cast far. On a boat, you need very little, if any of that, as most fish live near the surface. A few baits and a couple different rigs will catch what swims in a river or canal and are easier to manage on the deck of a boat.
Baits
Maggots are the best bait to use to catch everything. Roach, Perch, Bream, Chub, and Skimmers feed on maggots and are easy to feed little and often from a boat. Casters, which are maggots that turn into Chrysalises, tend to catch better fish.
Bread is really cheap, easy to use, and catches roach and Chub. You can also use it to catch Bream and Carp. Sweetcorn is good to use for the same fish and keeps well in a tin. Worms are good for Perch and in colored water after it rains.
For Pike most boat anglers use dead baits or lures. Lures are easier to use when drifting. Fish with a wire trace because Pike will eat the bait right off your line.
Keep your bait cool and shaded, especially Maggots. They spoil quickly and the cabin smells really bad if you leave them in the sun for too long.
Rigs
One of the simplest methods for fishing close to the boat is the use of a float rig. A waggler or stick float with a few shot down the line will let you fish the depth the fish are feeding and will show bites. When fishing off the side of a houseboat, the fish are usually no more than a rod length or two away.
A feeder rig will suit fishing for bream and fish that feed in shoals. Using a small open-end or cage feeder loaded with groundbait, maggots or corn will build a fish-attracting swim. Keeping your casts short and accurate will help keep your baits from fouling, especially when there is a lot of boat traffic.
Learning to fish a drop-shot rig for perch will pay dividends for boat fishing. A small lure or worm will work well and jigging will help you catch fish near the bottom and among structure. It is ideal for fishing near boat moorings and bridge supports.
While boat fishing is similar to bank fishing for the carp angler, there are a few changes due to the nature of the sport. The main difference is in bite indication. A boat in motion can make traditional indicators hard to read.
For boat fishing, a shorter rod is often recommended. These recommendations and the equipment you’ll need to take fishing are covered in our Best Fishing Rods for Boat Use and What Fishing Equipment Do You Actually Need? articles. boat fishing techniques are covered in our Boat Fishing.
Rigs tied at home always come out neater than on the boat.